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The Clowney Conundrum

Jadeveon Clowney perhaps has more talent than the best pure pass-rusher in NFL history, Lawrence Taylor. So why isn't the South Carolina star a No. 1 pick lock? A look into the 2014 draft's biggest mystery, plus a reader mailbag

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — I don’t have the answer on Jadeveon Clowney, who looked like such a can’t-miss prospect Monday at the NFL Scouting Combine. No one does.

Clowney had one sack in his last 33 college quarters of football. That just confounds me. It bothers me, and how can GM Rick Smith and coach Bill O’Brien, sitting in Houston with the top pick in the draft, watch the performance they watched in Indianapolis, with Clowney showing ridiculous speed and athleticism for such a big man, and not wonder, “Did this man really get one sack in the last 600 or so snaps of his college life? What is wrong with this picture?” On the one hand, Smith and O’Brien have to think of Clowney and J.J. Watt tormenting the AFC South for the next six to eight years. On the other, they have zero questions about Watt’s desire, and probably a hundred about Clowney’s.

I covered Lawrence Taylor for four seasons of his New Jersey prime, 1985 through 1988. He’s the best pure pass-rusher I’ve ever seen. Clowney is two inches taller and 23 pounds heavier than Taylor was, plays stronger from the look of the tape, and Clowney’s 40-yard-dash time basically matches Taylor’s—4.53 seconds.

Stats aren’t everything. And sacks are overrated. But Clowney had one sack and three passes defensed in his last eight games. He had nagging injuries, and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier has openly questioned Clowney’s work ethic. People have been quick to pooh-pooh Spurrier’s criticism, because Spurrier failed so spectacularly as the Washington coach when he had his NFL chance. But Spurrier was around Clowney every day. You weren’t. I wasn’t. Does he have an axe to grind? I suppose he might, but why would he? No, I take Spurrier’s comments seriously, and so should Clowney. And so should the teams at the top of this draft.

I mention Taylor because I believe being great as a pass-rusher and pulverizing the quarterback got him out of bed in the morning. And he was a sick, sick competitor. In 1988, the Giants were without Phil Simms, Harry Carson and Carl Banks for a crucial game at New Orleans, and there was absolutely no way Taylor should have played in the game; he had a partially torn pectoral muscle and torn shoulder ligaments, and he played with a harness strapping his upper left arm tight to his torso. Taylor had three sacks, two forced fumbles and seven tackles. Giants, 13-12.

But that’s not the best I’ve seen Taylor. That happened in a replacement game in 1987. The players were on strike, and the league fielded bush-leaguers so the owners wouldn’t have to refund TV fees. With the Giants 0-4, Taylor crossed the picket line and tried to beat the Bills by himself, playing both ways, linebacker and tight end. Buffalo lined up a truck driver from Illinois, Joe Schulte, to block Taylor. Schulte was called for seven penalties on Taylor. In the second half, with the refs not watching, LT drove his fist into Schulte’s throat. “How do you like that, sucker!” Taylor snarled at him. The Giants lost, but owner Wellington Mara thought it was Taylor’s best game as a pro.

Jadeveon Clowney dazzled the NFL with a blazing 4.53 40 but his choice to skip certain drills, combined with an underwhelming performance in the bench press, left more questions than answers. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

My point: Can Clowney have that kind of rare desire, or even 75 percent of it? Can he play through the pain when his team really needs him?

I came here Monday to speak to a couple of Penn State classes, and afterward was able to spend some time with new football coach James Franklin. In the past two seasons at Vanderbilt, Franklin game-planned for Clowney in the SEC twice and Clowney made his share of plays, getting three sacks. I asked Franklin if he saw a consistent force when Vanderbilt prepped for Clowney.

“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent,’’ Franklin said in his office at the Penn State football facility. “Although people are going to look at the film and say it’s a risk, it may be a risk worth taking.”

That’s the rub: “may be.” You take a guy that high, you want it to be “will be.”

Said Franklin: “I coached in the ACC when Julius Peppers was at North Carolina, so in a lot of ways I was thinking there was similarities between him and Clowney. With Peppers, we always felt like you were better off running at him, not away. He was so athletic, he could run you down. I remember two years ago, we took the same approach with Clowney. We said we’re going to try to get him to rush up the field and then get a guard or somebody to kick him out and then that would be a great plan. I’ll tell you what: He destroyed us. Physically destroyed us. Running at him, running away from him.

“Teams would try to take him out of the game by tempo and try to wear him down physically, playing fast, which you saw early this year. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he was probably the most game-planned against player in the country, from that perspective. And I think he’s unbelievably gifted.”

So now we wait. Teams send the scouts and assistant coaches with the investigative-reporter gene to Columbia, S.C., to dig into Clowney’s work habits and his love of the game, and they watch the tape, and they see how hard he played consistently. Where Clowney goes, and who takes him, could be a bigger story in the draft than where Johnny Football goes.

Really i dont get the "risks, complaints about work ethic, or any other questions about clowney"....im a south carolina fan, born and bred...clowney did everything he was supposed to do..he played through injuries, he gave it his all..fans, media and fairweathers fb fans outside of the sec only know clowney after the hit....we here in sc dont even really care about "the hit"....ive seen clowney control games with 2 tackles...his work ethic will get better b/c he will be around grown men...this brings me back to 2012 with alshon jeffrey getting all these questions Bout him...now how many teams wish they would have drafted him, even tho his qb continously look at him, 2nd or 5th during plays he still had 1400 yds and made pro bowl...why are our guys from sc so doubted...smh..its all good tho...if the texans get him and put him with jj and his college teammate (dj swagg, who will b a great safety this year), the. Afc south title they will have..if they pass, hell come bk to haunt them, guaranteed

if there is no debate what is Michael Wilbon talking about? I for one dont like the use of this word, but there is a debate. To me the R word ranks as the N word, evil and bad. The rights of native americans has never been on a par with the civil rights movement for black americans and that is the only difference I see. The use of the N word for some folks is just fine and dandy most of them too young remember or even to have been alive before 1964. So yes there is a debate. I dont thiink many black americans born before 1960 think that the word is a term of endearment as Wilbon claims. People alive and knowing that word at a time when it was completely acceptable and commonly used by police judges school teachers etc. those are the voices I would love to listen to in the debate. I am totally against the use of both the N word and R word. For me in the debate both need to be banned. I dont go for the game penalty, I would rather see some kind of in house ( no media release) escalating fine structure as a way to curb this issue. As for what is a slur and making a list theres no need, common sense people know when they hear one

Considering the Texans were completely satisfied with Mario Williams who was average at best on what remained the worst defense in the NFL for his entire tenure in Houston, they'll probably snap up Clowney without a second thought.

You and the rest of the writers are making far too much out of how fast Clowney ran the 40. What you neglected to tell was Clowney started that dash by being chased from the shower by Micheal Sam.......

Boy there's a lot of angry, ranting haters here. Sure there's some excellent points made here by many to ponder, and personally I have no problem with intelligently questioning the words/message of a writer...but wow there's a lot of self-righteousness and negative needlenose neds every day/week in this space. Is this how these comments always are/have to be? Seriously?? Intelligent adults (assumption) can't express themselves more effectively than this???

Not trying to start a fight with anyone. Just saying that it's starting to look like a college football message board here...and we're all better than that...and all have more to offer than venom and rants and transferred aggression...

For example- One thing I'd really like to see is Peter not create his own subject lines for each email. Either keep the readers subject line or don't have one. I doubt he reads these...but in the off chance he does...Peter- Not trying to tell you how to do your job...But have you considered the idea that creating you own subject lines for emails might introduce bias or be prejudicial a bit about the message's intent and perception. Just food for thought. Thanks for the MMQB.

Peter, Taylor was the "best pure pass rusher" as you say, because he was flying high on coke. Clowney won't have that advantage, unless of course, he becomes friends with Richard Sherman and borrows some of his adderral........

Why doesn't anybody state the obvious, which is that Clowney was ready for the NFL last year and had to stay in college for another year due to the rules? His heart clearly wasn't in it in college last season. He was simply trying to not get hurt, and it didn't mean as much to him. He was a freak at age 19. He was protecting himself. I don't see what is so difficult to understand about this. It doesn't mean he lacks football tenacity. He's the best player in this draft.

Very disappointing to hear King's glorification of LT's violence. Where's the glory in a millionaire professional athlete punching an average guy desperate enough to put himself in a thankless situation to make a buck? I am a supporter of unions, but those replacements were human beings, and did not deserve to be physically attacked by some rich jerk with emotional problems. If King wanted to salute LT's effort, he could have stopped at praising his playing on both sides of the ball. Instead, we get an "insider" anecdote that glorifies the brotherhood of rich, better-than-you athletes but fails the test of humanity. Added to the Paterno mention and punting on the slur question, that's three moral strikes in one column.

"Thanks, Adam. I am not willing to consign a man like Joe Paterno to a legacy of total disgrace because he didn’t do the right thing on Jerry Sandusky." Tell that to the boys Sandusky raped. I remember you daring those who support gun rights to the victims of families of the Newton massacre. I now dare you. Im sure you'll get a warm reception.

Regarding the last question in the column: why does SI continue to show so much sexism in the swimsuit issue? I guess it's okay for the SI writers to criticize the sexist culture in other organizations but not examine themselves. Real hypocrisy there. SI does the swimsuit stuff as nothing more than using sex to sell and make money. Writers like Peter King need to get off the high morale ground until they show some consistency regarding their own company.

Don't know about being the next LT but I do believe he is going to be a Superstar in
the NFL, I don't see Offensive Tackles in the NFL being able to block
him one on one either. Just like my boy Jason Pierre Paul with the Giants when healthy and Clowney is far more develop than JPP was coming out of USF. Clowney is just too damn fast and that Wingspan will make it
even more difficult for Tackles to get their hands on him before his
turns on the Speed. Clowney is the real deal, of course jealousy kicks
and some people and they are looking for all the negatives to throw back at the
kid but the Positives just stands out far more than his Negatives. They
said Warren Sapp took plays off as well coming out of Miami and he revolutionized the
Defensive Tackle Position, I see the same thing with Clowney at
Defensive End, just too gifted, only thing that can stop Clowney is
himself and injuries.

I find it hard to understand how some,think if one does something wrong every other great thing they did meant nothing. Yes,Paterno did some things,does that mean he wasn't a great coach? LT, all of his problems happened after retirement does that really mean he sacked as an LB? If so,ppl better remember they aren't perfect,so your life means nothing either.

Clowney will be really good, and that 40 yd dash time is very impressive, but the once in a lifetime mantra I'm hearing is way overblown.

For a pass rusher, the three cone drill is by far the most important, especially for an edge rusher. Straight line speed doesn't help you when you are trying to turn the corner with leverage to get to a QB. Below are the 3 Cone times of what most would consider the best DL/Pass Rushers of the last few years:

Clowney.............. 7.27

Von Miller............ 6.7

Aldon Smith ........7.19

JJ Watt................ 6.88

Ndamukong Suh. 7.21

Keep in mind that Clowney was much faster than all of them except Miller (just slightly faster)...

There is so little "reporting" about Clowney's work ethic. If you follow the Gamecocks closely, you'll hear his coaches (including Spurrier) and teammates speak well of him, including how hard he worked and how he played through injuries. Yet, all you see is the same couple of things over and over: there are red flags and Spurrier questioned his work ethic (which he actually described as being not up to par with his absolute best in his time at USC). Is it that hard to talk to the OLs he faced in the SEC and the OCs who schemed against him to see what they say? NFL folks haven't had the chance to break him down on film as much, so it would seem a few phone calls to the college folks might provide some valuable perspective on Clowney. Of course King talked to Franklin, who says that Clowney destroyed his team, and the take away is the pretty innocuous "may be"? The media's take on Clowney has been very strange.

Dude u r a moron...i watched him play every game for three years...he played the same, i watched, really..he was not trying to not get hurt...i bet most ppl dont even know he didnt even start a single game his freshman...and he still made an impact..

1. if Clowney had shown his "desire" this year by punching an opponent in the throat, we would be reading stories about how much he has hurt his draft stock and whether he is being remorseful enough in interviews with teams. Ask LeGarrette Blount about how punching an opponent works out.

2. I find it odd that everyone is so fixated on his "desire", when a bigger issue seems to be that he relies on his athleticism rather than technique. That works great in HS and college, but isn't going to work in the NFL.

@SemperFiDTM Actually, the proper response should have been, "Thanks, Adam, I am not willing to consign a man like Joe Paterno to a legacy of total disgrace because of a report written by a man (Louis Freeh) whose work as an investigator has been rejected by pretty much every credible agency. Richard Jewell certainly appreciated his investigative expertise when he was erroneously blamed by Freeh for the Olympic bombing in Atlanta." You seem to forget that Paterno was not the person who granted Sandusky access to the facilities where the rapes did not occur (he was not convicted of rape on the PSU campus) and that Second Mile provided Sandusky with access to the children. Paterno followed the law in 2001; if Mike McQueary actually did see a rape occur (again, Sandusky was not convicted of rape for that incident), he should have reported the incident.

amendment: my post wasnt properly displayed. I repeated how you dared gun rights advocates to "tell that" to the victims families of Newton. I dare you to "tell that" you wont consign Paterno to disgrace to the boys sandusky raped while he did nothing to stop it.

Oh and the reason why he is not a Lock to go #1 is because guys in the Media like yourself Mr King are INFATUATED WITH QB's. Even when the QB's are not that good they still hype up the QB Class, I remember leading up to last years draft some of you in the media was trying to make a case for Mike Glennon going in the 1st Round LMFAO

This years QB Class is GOOD, NOT GREAT! I personally don't think either one of worthy of taking over Clowney, because they are more talented of have a better upside. Only playing I would take over Clowney and feel good and secure about it would be the other FREAK in this draft, Greg Robinson! Other than that, you are putting a ton of pressure on the QB who goes before Clowney.

@eddie767 I don't think anyone's saying he wasn't a great coach. But something like what happened with Sandusky makes being a football coach seem very unimportant indeed. Who cares what he did in a stupid game when he failed his most important test as a human being.

@eddie767 .. Bill Parcells always pushed the right buttons when LT was playing which shows you what a great coach he was ...Been going to NFL games ( RFK & Fed Ex ) for years and LT has to be the the most dominate NFL player I've ever seen in person ... He never, ever took any plays off ...That's why Joe Gibbs then started the two tight end offense ..Some of those battles between Joe Jacoby vs LT were classics ..Jake was a devastating run blocker and should be in the HOF .Russ Grimm- HOF , LG, played next to him and John Riggins was the FB ....

While many were stunned to see a man so big moving so
quickly (check out the video of Clowney's run overlayed against that of Oregon
speedster De'Anthony Thomas) it's just the latest Freaky display for the South
Carolina D-lineman. Last spring when Clowney ranked No. 1 on the annual Freaks
list, Connolly provided the best case for his man in the top spot. Forget for a
moment the blazing 40-time and consider the Tendo.

"It measures velocity and power in meters per
second," Connolly told me last spring. "It'll give you a power
number, and it's expressed in watts. It takes into account body weight and
different things. (Clowney) is in the 8000s and we're talking repetitive
numbers in the 8500-range, and there isn't anybody on the team within 2000 of
that.

"Clowney has a 8655w peak power reading. The closest
number that a teammate has is a 6800w peak power reading. This differential is
pretty vast. One major difference is JD can produce this kind of power
repeatedly. Nobody else can do that.

Peppers is a great comparison, great athlete, so-so drive, and never really had the impact his hype would suggest.

Being a great athlete does not make a great football player. Every year theirs a great athletes who blows everyone away with his combine performance and then under performs in shoulder pads. The game tape is where its at.

@DrG1994@SemperFiDTM Freeh's report was hand-picked by PSU itself (just minutes ahead of the NCAA appointing a team), so it's laughable that people are upset that he actually found negatives about the vaunted football program and a coach that clearly was more figurehead than coach that last 15 years or so of his career. Considering that PK WAS so quick to challenge gun-rights supporters to tell Newtown parents how they are entitled to having said rights, it's a head-scratcher why he's so quick to defend someone that clearly should was slow-to-react at best to a horrific situation happening directly under his nose.

You seem to be fixated on me. I suppose I should feel complimented. How many Bill Robinson's have you checked out on Google? Must have taken you hours. I've never tried looking myself up on Google. My "college football accomplishments" were many years ago, and my years of college coaching were in lacrosse, also many years ago when outside of Baltimore, lacrosse didn't find it's way into many newspapers. In any event, my accomplishments didn't warrant much attention. But at least I don't post anonymously, let alone with a screen ID that starts with "iloveme."

If you think Joe Paterno didn't positively impact the lives of thousands of people in his long career at Penn State as a coach, teacher, mentor, financial supporter, and personal example, your powers of research are truly pathetic. Maybe you should spend more time on Google, or heaven forbid, consider other sources than Google. But it's probably useless, because you appear to lack the intellectual curiosity and integrity required for research. You might also invest some time researching cognitive dissonance.

Based on the time you spend on Internet forums like MMQB, it's hard to imagine any accomplishments you might have achieved. But really, nobody other than your family and friends care about you or your accomplishments or mine either.

@BillRobinson Oh and Bill, it's clear you hold Paterno in high regard as you've made frequent reference to the "thousands" who support him. Not sure why that's relevant. It's about as relevant as your non-existent "college football accomplishments" and "and many years of college coaching." Both of which google agrees never happened. :)

@BillRobinson You had no problem denying Philbon that same benefit of the doubt. In a situation that is of course, far less important than the one being currently discussed.

If Philbon had professional responsibility to know what was going on with his players, then Paterno had the same responsibility in regards to his coaching staff, especially considering how close his relationship with Sandusky was.

Interesting how you conclude that a man like Joe Paterno "does not deserve the benefit of the doubt" with his record and even before the trial(s) are concluded. It is impressive that you have lived such an impeccable life above reproach and with such stellar accomplishments. Talk about judgmental.